Deep Tech Startup Apoha Secures $36M to Pioneer 'Liquid Intelligence'

Apoha, a London and San Francisco-based deep tech startup, has emerged from stealth with $36 million in Series A funding led by Singular. The company is developing a novel AI platform designed to engineer new substances—ranging from pharmaceuticals to food products and industrial materials—by analyzing the physical behavior of matter at a microscopic level. By moving beyond traditional text and image-based AI training, Apoha aims to create a new paradigm for material science.

The core of Apoha’s technology is a proprietary method dubbed "liquid intelligence." The company utilizes specialized hardware to suspend tiny material samples in liquid and subject them to controlled physical stresses. This process generates unique wave patterns, which Apoha converts into "behavioral embeddings"—numerical fingerprints that allow AI models to predict material properties like taste, smell, reactivity, and durability. This approach significantly accelerates the testing process, providing detailed data in minutes that would traditionally take weeks to obtain through conventional laboratory methods.

This innovation holds significant implications for industries reliant on complex material formulation. By providing a more accurate way to predict how substances behave before they reach the manufacturing or clinical trial stage, Apoha could drastically reduce development costs and time-to-market. Early applications already include assisting food companies in rapid ingredient substitution and partnering with pharmaceutical giant Boehringer Ingelheim to streamline drug candidate screening.

Founded in 2021 by CEO Shamit Shrivastava and COO Anshika Srivastava, the company is positioning itself at the intersection of hardware engineering and generative AI. As the industry shifts toward data-driven material discovery, Apoha’s ability to quantify the "feel" and behavior of matter offers a competitive edge, potentially transforming how we design everything from synthetic proteins to advanced industrial coatings.